Jamaican Gets 12 Years for Illegal Re-Entry and 40-to-Life for Attempted Cop Killing

Westchester County Police DepartmentBOB PRICE12 Apr 2018

A federal judge sentenced a Jamaican man with a lengthy history of criminal convictions and deportations to more than 12 years in prison following his conviction for aggravated illegal re-entry. The sentence follows the man’s conviction in a New York court for attempted murder of a police officer.

A federal court judge in New York sentenced Ronald Greenland, 55, to 151 months in federal custody. Of that, 100 months of the sentence is ordered to be served consecutively to his recent sentence from a New York state court. The state court sentenced Greenland to 40 years to life following his conviction for attempting to kill a police officer, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Greenland tried to stab Westchester County Police Officer David Sanchez to death on November 8, 2016. Officer Sanchez responded to a call of a man attempting to steal tire rims at a car dealership. Greenland fled the scene when Sanchez arrived. When the officer captured Greenland, a struggle ensued and Greenland stabbed Sanchez in the chest, Lohud, a USA Today network news outlet reported. The officer’s ballistic vest saved him from serious injury or death.

Greenland initially entered the U.S. legally in 1972, ICE officials stated. However, following a series of criminal convictions in Connecticut, Florida, and New York, a federal immigration judge ordered his removal in 2007. Immigration officers removed him to Jamaica in February 2009.

The Jamaican man returned to the U.S. illegally sometime after that. A federal court in the Southern District of New York convicted him for illegal re-entry after removal and the judge sentenced Greenland to five years in prison. Immigration officer again deported the man to Jamaica in April 2015.

He returned to the U.S. once again and in November 2016 he attempted to kill Officer Sanchez. ICE officers obtained a federal arrest warrant on December 9, 2016, on a charge of illegal re-entry following removal.

The Westchester County Supreme Court convicted Greenland on October 25, 2017, on charges of attempted murder of a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal possession of stolen property.

If he is ever released from the New York prison sentence, he will have to face 100 additional months in federal prison on the immigration violation.

“Sentences like this one are a powerful reminder about the potential consequences that await those who blatantly skirt the nation’s immigration laws,” ERO New York Field Office Director Thomas Decker, said in a written statement. “Illegal aliens who knowingly break the law by re-entering the United States must be held accountable for their actions.”

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, GAB, and Facebook.